Snap-rf interconnections

ABSTRACT

A radio frequency connector includes a substrate, a first ground plane disposed upon the substrate, a signal conductor having a first contact point, with the first contact point being configured to electrically mate with a second contact point, and a first ground boundary configured to electrically mate with a second ground boundary, with the first ground boundary being formed as an electrically continuous conductor within the substrate.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application claims priority under 35 U.S.C. § 121 as a division ofU.S. patent application Ser. No. 16/287,240 filed Feb. 27, 2019, titled“SNAP-RF INTERCONNECTIONS,” which claims priority under 35 U.S.C. §119(e) to U.S. Provisional Patent Application No. 62/636,364 filed Feb.28, 2018, titled SNAP-RF INTERCONNECTIONS. Each application referencedabove is herein incorporated by reference in its entirety for allpurposes.

BACKGROUND

Radio frequency (RF) and electromagnetic circuits may be manufacturedand disposed upon a printed circuit board (PCB) using conventional PCBmanufacturing processes, and often require interconnection to variouscables or other electromagnetic circuits, requiring bulky connectorsthat are lossy, fragile, and may have limited suitability for variousfrequency ranges. Conventional PCB manufacturing processes, such aslamination, electroplating, masking, etching, and other process stepsmay require multiple steps, expensive and/or hazardous materials,multiple iterations, extensive labor, etc., all leading to higher costand slower turnaround time. Additionally, conventional PCB manufacturingprocesses have limited ability to allow for small feature sizes, such assignal trace dimensions, thereby limiting the range of highest frequencysignals that may be supported by such devices.

SUMMARY

One aspect of the present disclosure is directed to a radio frequencyconnector comprising a substrate, a first ground plane disposed upon thesubstrate, a signal conductor having a first contact point, with thefirst contact point being configured to electrically mate with a secondcontact point, and a first ground boundary configured to electricallymate with a second ground boundary, with the first ground boundary beingformed as an electrically continuous conductor within the substrate.

Embodiments of the radio frequency connector further may include analignment element configured to align the first and second contactpoints. The radio frequency connector further may include a couplingelement configured to secure mated contact between the first and secondcontact points. The coupling element may be a magnetic element.

Another aspect of the present disclosure is directed to a radiofrequency interconnect structure comprising a first connector includinga first substrate, a first ground plane disposed upon the firstsubstrate, a first signal conductor having a first contact point, and afirst ground boundary formed as an electrically continuous conductorwithin the first substrate. The radio frequency interconnect structurefurther comprises a second connector including a second substrate, asecond ground plane disposed upon the second substrate, a second signalconductor having a second contact point configured to electrically matewith the first contact point of the first connector, and a second groundboundary formed as an electrically continuous conductor within thesecond substrate, with the second ground boundary being configured toelectrically mate with the first ground boundary.

Embodiments of the radio frequency interconnect structure further mayinclude an alignment element configured to align the first contact pointof the first connector and the second contact point of the secondconnector. The radio frequency interconnect structure further mayinclude a coupling element configured to secure mated contact betweenthe first contact point of the first connector and the second contactpoint of the second connector. The coupling element may be a magneticelement.

Yet another aspect of the present disclosure is directed to a method ofmanufacturing a radio frequency connector. In one embodiment, the methodcomprises: milling a conductive material disposed upon a first substrateto form a signal trace, the signal trace including a terminal pad;bonding a second substrate to the first substrate to substantiallyencapsulate the trace and terminal pad between the first substrate andthe second substrate; drilling through the second substrate to providean access hole to the terminal pad; milling through the first and secondsubstrate to form a trench, the trench positioned at least partiallyaround the terminal pad; depositing a conductor into the access hole,the conductor making electrical connection to the terminal pad; anddepositing a conductive ink into the trench to form an electricallycontinuous conductor within the first and second substrate.

Embodiments of the method further may include depositing a solder bumpon the terminal pad. The method further may include applyingsolder/reflow to the conductor at the access hole. Milling through thefirst and second substrate may include milling to a ground planesubstantially without piercing the ground plane. The conductive ink maybe placed in contact with the ground plane such that the continuousconductor is electrically connected to the ground plane.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

Various aspects of at least one embodiment are discussed below withreference to the accompanying figures, which are not intended to bedrawn to scale. The figures are included to provide illustration and afurther understanding of the various aspects and embodiments, and areincorporated in and constitute a part of this specification, but are notintended as a definition of the limits of the disclosure. In thefigures, each identical or nearly identical component that isillustrated in various figures may be represented by a like numeral. Forpurposes of clarity, not every component may be labeled in every figure.In the figures:

FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram of an example of two bonded substrates asmay be suitable for an electromagnetic circuit;

FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram of an example of a conventional connectorfor use with an electromagnetic circuit;

FIGS. 3, 3A and 3B are schematic diagrams of a stage of manufacture ofan electromagnetic circuit interconnection;

FIG. 4 is a schematic diagram of another stage of manufacture of anelectromagnetic circuit interconnection;

FIGS. 5 and 5A are schematic diagrams of another stage of manufacture ofan electromagnetic circuit interconnection;

FIG. 6 is a schematic diagram of another stage of manufacture of anelectromagnetic circuit interconnection;

FIG. 7 is a schematic diagram of another stage of manufacture of anelectromagnetic circuit interconnection;

FIGS. 8, 8A and 8B are schematic diagrams of two electromagnetic circuitinterconnections coupled together;

FIGS. 9A and 9B are schematic diagrams of the interconnection of FIGS.8, 8A and 8B including additional elements to secure theinterconnection;

FIG. 10 is a schematic diagram showing detail of various embodiments ofadditional elements; and

FIG. 11 is a schematic diagram showing detail of various embodiments ofadditional elements.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Various aspects and embodiments are directed to compact, low profileinterconnection systems and methods for electromagnetic circuits, andimproved methods of manufacture of the same, that allow for ease ofconfigurability, small sizes, and higher frequencies than conventionalsystems and methods.

Aspects and examples described provide radio frequency connectors andmethods that advantageously apply additive and subtractive manufacturingtechniques to provide low profile interconnections for the conveyance ofvarious signals including radio frequency, direct current (DC), logicsignals, or the like.

Still other aspects, examples, and advantages are discussed in detailbelow. Embodiments disclosed herein may be combined with otherembodiments in any manner consistent with at least one of the principlesdisclosed herein, and references to “an embodiment,” “some embodiments,”“an alternate embodiment,” “various embodiments,” “one embodiment” orthe like are not necessarily mutually exclusive and are intended toindicate that a particular feature, structure, or characteristicdescribed may be included in at least one embodiment. The appearances ofsuch terms herein are not necessarily all referring to the sameembodiment. Various aspects and embodiments described herein may includemeans for performing any of the described methods or functions.

It is to be appreciated that embodiments of the methods and apparatusesdiscussed herein are not limited in application to the details ofconstruction and the arrangement of components set forth in thefollowing description or illustrated in the accompanying drawings. Themethods and apparatuses are capable of implementation in otherembodiments and of being practiced or of being carried out in variousways. Examples of specific implementations are provided herein forillustrative purposes only and are not intended to be limiting. Also,the phraseology and terminology used herein is for the purpose ofdescription and should not be regarded as limiting. The use herein of“including,” “comprising,” “having,” “containing,” “involving,” andvariations thereof is meant to encompass the items listed thereafter andequivalents thereof as well as additional items. References to “or” maybe construed as inclusive so that any terms described using “or” mayindicate any of a single, more than one, and all of the described terms.Any references to front and back, left and right, top and bottom, upperand lower, end, side, vertical and horizontal, and the like, areintended for convenience of description, not to limit the presentsystems and methods or their components to any one positional or spatialorientation.

The term “radio frequency” as used herein is not intended to refer toany particular frequency, range of frequencies, bands, spectrum, etc.,unless explicitly stated and/or specifically indicated by context.Similarly, the terms “radio frequency signal” and “electromagneticsignal” are used interchangeably and may refer to a signal of anyfrequency. It should be appreciated that various embodiments of radiofrequency circuits may be designed with dimensions selected and/ornominally manufactured to operate at various frequencies. The selectionof appropriate dimensions may be had from general electromagneticprinciples and are not presented in detail herein. The methods andapparatuses described herein may support smaller arrangements anddimensions than conventionally known, and may allow or accommodate themanufacture of electromagnetic circuits of smaller dimensions thanconventionally known, and thereby may be particularly suitable for radiofrequency circuits intended to be operated at higher frequencies thanconventional methods.

FIG. 1 illustrates an electromagnetic circuit structure 100 thatincludes two substrates 110 bonded together, with ground planes 120disposed on the outer surfaces thereof, and a circuit layer 130 disposedtherebetween. The structure 100 is merely one example of a structure inwhich an electromagnetic circuit may be provided, and additionalsubstrates having additional layers to accommodate additional circuitcomponents may be provided in various embodiments. Typically, a portionof a circuit may be disposed on a particular layer, e.g., the circuitlayer 130, with ground planes above and/or below (e.g., to maintain acharacteristic impedance for signals on various traces or transmissionlines on the circuit layer), and other portions of a total circuit (orsystem) may exist on other layers, to which the signals on theparticular layer, circuit layer 130, must gain access.

Transferring signals from one structure 100 to another structure 100 isconventionally accomplished via a connector, such as the connector 200shown in FIG. 2, which is a surface connector that takes a lot of space,requires significant board separation, may be fragile due to thephysical structure protruding from the circuit board and, due to itssize, may be limited to certain frequency bands or have undesirableperformance above certain frequencies. Conventional connectors alsointroduce additional height restrictions and cost.

Aspects and embodiments of systems and methods as described herein,however, provide for a low profile interconnection between circuits,providing reliable signal interconnects with flexibleinterchangeability, swappable quick connect and disconnect operations,that snap into place without cables, without costly/bulky connectors,and without torque or twisting application. Interconnect systems andmethods described herein provide low-cost RF interfaces for PCB's, forboard-to-board, board-to-cable, and board-to-flex connections.

Electromagnetic circuits and methods of manufacture in accord with thosedescribed herein include various additive manufacturing techniques toproduce electromagnetic circuits and components capable of handlinghigher frequencies, with lower profiles, and at reduced costs, cycletimes, and design risks, than conventional circuits and methods.Examples of techniques include milling of conductive material from asurface of a substrate to form signal traces or apertures ofsignificantly smaller dimensions than allowed by conventional PCBprocesses, milling of one or more substrates to form a trench, using3-dimensional printing techniques to deposit printed conductive inksinto the trench to form a Faraday wall (a continuous electric barrier,as opposed to a series of ground vias with minimum spacingtherebetween), “vertical launch” signal paths formed by milling(drilling) a hole through a portion of substrate and in which a wire isplaced (and/or conductive ink is printed), to make electrical contact toa signal trace disposed on a surface of the substrate (or an opposingsubstrate), which may include forming a Faraday wall around the verticallaunch conducting wire (which may be copper in some embodiments), andusing 3-dimensional printing techniques to deposit printed resistiveinks to form resistive components. Any of the above example techniquesand/or others (e.g., soldering and/or solder reflow), may be combined tomake various electromagnetic components. Aspects and examples of suchtechniques are described and illustrated herein with respect to a radiofrequency interconnect to convey an electromagnetic signal to or from alayer of an electromagnetic circuit, but the techniques described may beused to form various electromagnetic components, connectors, circuits,assemblies, and systems.

FIGS. 3, 3A and 3B show a structure 300 a of an electromagnetic circuit,to include an interconnect, in one stage of manufacture in accord withaspects and embodiments of the systems and methods described herein. Thestructure 300 a is a substrate 310 having a surface upon which isdisposed a conductive material 320, such as electroplated copper, forinstance, to form what may become a ground plane in some embodiments,and an opposing surface upon which is disposed another conductivematerial 330 (e.g., copper) that has been milled away (e.g., subtracted)to form various electrically conductive features. The features createdby milling may form various components of an electromagnetic circuit,but the features of primary interest described herein are those relatedto providing a signal interconnect to convey signals from the structure300 a to other components. Accordingly, the milled features shown inFIG. 3 include the removed portion 340 to form a signal trace 350 and aterminal pad 352. While the terminal pad 352 in this example isgenerally round in shape, in various embodiments the terminal pad 352may be of a shape other than shown and may merely be a terminal end ofthe trace 350 with no other distinguishing shape. As described, theelectrical features formed from the conductive material 330 are formedby milling away portions of the conductive material 330.

Dimensional information shown in the figures is for illustrativepurposes only and is representative of some dimensions that may bedesirable or suitable for certain applications, and may be illustrativeof some dimensions achievable with the methods described herein. Invarious embodiments, dimensions may be significantly smaller, or may belarger, depending upon the capabilities of the milling and additiveequipment used in production, and depending upon the design andapplication of a particular circuit.

FIG. 4 illustrates a structure 300 b of an electromagnetic interconnectin another stage of manufacture. The structure 300 b is similar to thestructure 300 a and includes all the elements of the structure 300 a,and the structure 300 b may be a next stage in the manufacture of anelectromagnetic interconnect, but in various embodiments, the structureand features of an electromagnetic interconnect in accord with thosedescribed herein may be manufactured in differing orders. The structure300 b includes a second substrate 410, also having a surface with aconducting material 420 disposed thereon, and an opposing surface thatis bonded (via a thin-layer bonding material 430) to, e.g., thestructure 300 a. A solder bump 440 may also be disposed upon theterminal pad 352, though not necessarily, and may be deposited on theterminal pad 352 prior to bonding the substrates 310, 410.

FIGS. 5 and 5A illustrate a structure 300 c of an electromagneticinterconnect in another stage of manufacture. In the structure 300 c, anaccess hole 510 has been milled (e.g., drilled) through the conductivematerial 420 and the substrate 410 to provide access to the terminal pad352 (and optional solder bump 440). Additionally, a further milledportion 520 of the conductive material 420 have been removed to provideelectrical isolation between the top opening of the access hole 510 andthe remainder of conductive material 420. Further, a trench 530 has beenmilled through the conductive material 420 and the substrate 410 thatprovides access down to the conductive material 320 on the distalopposing surface of the structure 300 c. The top view portion of FIG. 5illustrates more detail of the location of the trench 530 in someembodiments. The top view portion is shown in th plane of the conductivematerial 330, where the signal trace 350 and the terminal pad 352 mayreside, and therefore does not illustrate the access hole 510 or milledportion 520. For reference, the milled portion 520 may substantially bea region around the access hole 510, sufficient to prevent a futuresolder bump (or other conductive structure) at the access hole 510 frommaking an electrical connection to the remaining conductive material420, e.g., “outside” the trench 530.

FIG. 6 illustrates a structure 300 d of an electromagnetic interconnectin yet another stage of manufacture. A conductor 610 is deposited intothe access hole 510, and a conductive fill 620 is deposited into thetrench 530. The conductor 610 in the access hole 510 may be formed byfilling (depositing) conductive material or conductive ink in the hole510 (such as by additive manufacturing, e.g., 3-D printing) in someembodiments, or by inserting a conductor into the hole 510. For example,the conductor 610 may be a solid conductor in some embodiments, such asa wire, and in some embodiments it may be a copper wire. In variousembodiments, other conductive materials may be suitable depending uponthe application. Further, a wire may be of round, square, or othercross-sectional shapes, and may be solid or hollow cored in variousembodiments. In some embodiments, a solder reflow process may be appliedto “adhere” the conductor 610 to the solder bump 440, and therefore tothe terminal pad 352.

The conductive fill 620 may be of various conductive material, butfilling by conductive ink (additively manufactured, e.g., by 3-Dprinting) may be preferable due to the more robust (and potentially lessuniform and/or amorphous) shape of the trench 530 it fills. While thetrench 530 is shown having some significantly linear portions, thetrench 530 may take on any shape in various embodiments. A preferentialshape of the trench 530 may be to parallel the signal trace 350, toeither side of the signal trace 350, accommodating a signal trace 350 ofvarious shapes to accommodate various circuit layouts. For comparison,various dimensional values are illustrated with respect to FIG. 6 (andFIG. 7). As described previously, the dimensional values are forillustrative purposes and various embodiments may have similar featuresof larger or smaller dimension.

The conductive fill 620 forms a Faraday wall. In various embodiments,the Faraday wall created by the conductive fill 620 may confine andisolate electromagnetic fields from neighboring circuit components.Further, Faraday walls may electrically couple two or more groundplanes, such as may be formed by the conductive material 320 on a“bottom” side of the structure 300 d, and the conductive material 420 onthe “top” side.

FIG. 7 illustrates a structure 300 e of an electromagnetic interconnectin yet another stage of manufacture. Here, a solder bump 710 is placedon the conductor 610, at the “top” surface of the structure 300 e.Similarly, a solder bump 720 is placed on the conductive fill 620 andmay function to ensure an electrical contact of the conductive fill 620with the conductive material 420, which may be a ground plane in someembodiments. The solder bump 720 may, in some embodiments, be a ring ofsolder as viewed from the “top” plane of the structure 300 e. In variousembodiments, either or both of the solder bump 710 and the solder bump720 may ultimately form a contact surface of the interconnect,configured to mate with similar solder bumps on a similar structure, ormay form solder points for other circuit structures, such ascommercially available connectors, cables, circuit elements, etc.

FIGS. 8, 8A and 8B illustrate the structure 300 e of FIG. 7 coupled, ormated, with a comparable similar structure 300 e. The respective solderbumps 710, 720 of each structure mate or make contact with each other,such that a signal on the signal trace 350 of either structure isconveyed to the signal trace 350 of the other structure. The groundplanes (conductive materials 320, 420) and Faraday walls (conductivefill 620) form a substantially continuous electrical “cage” around thesignal traces 350, which are “vertically” electrically connected throughthe conductors 610 (one per each structure 300 e), and the respectivesolder bumps 710. Accordingly, a signal on either signal trace 350 maybe said to be “vertically launched” to the other signal trace 350, asmay best be seen in the B-B cross sectional view of the FIG. 8, i.e.,FIG. 8B, wherein a first signal trace 350 makes electrical connectionthrough to a second signal trace 350 a, or vice versa.

Two interconnects of relatively comparable structure to the structure300 e, as illustrated in FIGS. 8, 8A and 8B, may be securely mated orcoupled by various means. FIGS. 9A and 9B illustrate a secure couplingby use of magnets 910 secured to each of the interconnect structures.The number and placement of magnets 910 is illustrative, and variousembodiments may have more or fewer magnets 910 in differing physicalarrangements. The magnets 910 may provide both alignment (by precisedesign, orientation, and placement of their magnetic fields) and secureconnection (by the strength of their magnetic fields). FIGS. 10 and 11illustrate alternate physical positioning of magnets 910, e.g., embeddedin one or more of the substrates, e.g., substrate 310 a and substrates410, 410 a as shown in FIG. 10 or substrate 310 and substrate 310 a inFIG. 11. For example, the magnets 910 may be secured to an interconnectstructure with bonding agents, or by pressure fitting into voids in thesubstrates designed to accommodate the magnets 910, or both, or othermeans. Additional or alternate means of aligning and securing theinterconnect structures may be provided in various embodiments. Forexample, alignment pins, screws, clasps, or precise placement during asolder reflow operation (which may optional substantially permanentlymate the interconnects, if desired), and the like, individually or invarious combinations.

Further advantages of system and methods described herein may berealized. For example, conventional PCB manufacturing may imposelimitations on circuit feature sizes, such as the width of signaltraces, in comparison with systems and method described herein, thuslimiting the highest frequencies for which conventionally madeelectromagnetic circuits may be suitable. Further, substrate thicknessesimpact characteristic impedance (e.g., due to the distance to groundplanes disposed upon opposing surfaces) in relation to width of thetraces. Accordingly, wider traces required by conventional PCB processescause selection of thicker substrates (to maintain a particularcharacteristic impedance), thus limiting how thin the circuit can bemanufactured. For example, general recommendations under conventionalPCB manufacturing include total thicknesses of about 60 mil (0.060inches). By comparison, electromagnetic circuits in accord with aspectsand embodiments described, using additive manufacturing techniques, canresult in circuit boards having a low profile down to a thickness ofabout 10 mil or less, with signal line traces having widths of about 4.4mil, or 2.7 mil, or less, and interconnect geometries substantiallyflush with a surface of the board.

Ground vias conventionally provide electrical connectivity betweenground planes (e.g., on opposing surfaces of substrates) and providesome isolation of signals on the traces from other traces that may benearby. The conventional ground vias are drilled holes of about 8 mildiameter or greater, and are required to be a minimum distance apart tomaintain structural integrity of the board. Accordingly, ground vias areleaky structures, exhibiting loss of electromagnetic signal, especiallyat higher frequencies. As various applications require support forhigher frequency signals, the minimum spacing between ground vias actlike large openings through which relatively small wavelengths ofelectromagnetic energy may escape.

By comparison, electromagnetic circuits and methods in accord withaspects and embodiments described herein, which use additivemanufacturing techniques, allow for electrically continuous structuresto connect ground planes. Accordingly, an electrically continuousstructure is provided and disposed vertically through one or moresubstrates, (e.g., between opposing surfaces of the substrate) to form“Faraday walls” that confine electric fields. In various embodiments,such Faraday walls may electrically couple two or more ground planes.Further in various embodiments, such Faraday walls may confine andisolate electromagnetic fields form neighboring circuit components. Insome embodiments, such Faraday walls may enforce a boundary condition tolimit electromagnetic signals to be locally transverse electric-magnetic(TEM) fields, e.g., limiting signal propagation to a TEM mode.

In various embodiments, various subtractive (milling, drilling),additive (printing, filling), and adherent (bonding) steps may becarried out, in various orders, with soldering and reflow operations asnecessary, to form an electromagnetic circuit having one or any numberof substrate layers, which may include one or more interconnect featuresas described herein.

A generalized method for making any of various electromagnetic circuitsincludes milling a conductive material disposed on a substrate to formcircuit features, printing (or depositing, e.g., via 3-D printing,additive manufacturing techniques) additional circuit features, such asresistors formed of resistive ink, for example. The method may includedepositing solder on any feature, as necessary, for example upon theterminal pad 352. The method may also include milling (or drilling)through substrate material (and/or conductive materials) to formopenings, such as voids or trenches, and includes depositing or printing(e.g., via 3-D printing, additive manufacturing techniques) conductivematerial (such as conductive ink or a wire conductor) into thevoids/trenches, for example to form Faraday walls or vertical signallaunches (e.g., copper). Any of these steps may be done in differentorders, repeated, or omitted as necessary for a given circuit design,and may include interconnect structures as described herein. In someembodiments, multiple substrates may be involved in the manufacture ofan electromagnetic circuit, and the method includes bonding furthersubstrates as necessary, and further milling and filling operations.

Having described several aspects of at least one embodiment and a methodfor manufacturing an electromagnetic circuit, the above descriptions maybe employed to produce various electromagnetic circuits with an overallthickness of 10 mils (0.010 inches, 254 microns) or less, and mayinclude signal traces, such as the traces as narrow as 4.4 mils (111.8microns), 2.7 mils (68.6 microns), or even as narrow as 1.97 mills (50microns), depending upon the tolerances and accuracy of various millingand additive manufacturing equipment used. Accordingly, electromagneticcircuits in accord with those described herein may be suitable forX-Band and higher frequencies, and in some cases up to 70 GHz or more.

Additionally, electromagnetic circuits in accord with those describedherein may have a low enough profile (e.g., thickness of 10 mils orless), with accordant light weight, to be suitable for outer spaceapplications, including folding structures to be deployed by unfoldingwhen positioned in outer space.

Further, electromagnetic circuits manufactured in accord with methodsdescribed herein accommodate less expensive and faster prototyping,without the necessity for caustic chemicals, masking, etching,electroplating, etc. Simple substrates with pre-plated conductivematerial disposed on one or both surfaces (sides) may form the corestarting material, and all elements of an electromagnetic circuit may beformed by milling (subtractive, drilling), filling (additive, printingof conductive and/or resistive inks), and bonding one or moresubstrates. Simple solder reflow operations and insertion of simpleconductors (e.g., copper wire) are accommodated by methods and systemsdescribed herein.

Further, electromagnetic circuits manufactured in accord with methodsdescribed herein may accommodate deployment on, or designs calling for,non-planar surfaces. Thin, low-profile electromagnetic circuits, such asdescribed herein and others, may be manufactured using mill, fill, andbond techniques as described herein to produce electromagnetic circuitshaving any desired contour, to adhere to a surface (such as a vehicle)or to support a complex array structure, for instance.

An appendix that includes various additional details and aspects isfiled concurrently herewith and is hereby incorporated in and part ofthis specification.

Having thus described several aspects of at least one embodiment, it isto be appreciated various alterations, modifications, and improvementswill readily occur to those skilled in the art. Such alterations,modifications, and improvements are intended to be part of thisdisclosure and are intended to be within the scope of the disclosure.Accordingly, the foregoing description and drawings are by way ofexample only.

What is claimed is:
 1. A method of manufacturing a radio frequencyconnector, the method comprising: forming a signal trace from aconductive material disposed on a first substrate, the signal traceincluding a terminal pad; bonding a second substrate to the firstsubstrate to substantially encapsulate the trace and terminal padbetween the first substrate and the second substrate; forming an accesshole from the second substrate to the terminal pad; forming a trenchthrough the first and second substrate, the trench being positioned atleast partially around the terminal pad; depositing a conductor into theaccess hole, the conductor providing an electrical connection to theterminal pad; and depositing a conductive ink into the trench to form anelectrically continuous conductor within the first and second substrate.2. The method of claim 1, further comprising depositing a solder bump onthe terminal pad.
 3. The method of claim 1, further comprising applyingsolder/reflow to the conductor at the access hole.
 4. The method ofclaim 1, wherein forming the signal trace includes milling theconductive material disposed on the first substrate.
 5. The method ofclaim 1, wherein forming the access hole includes drilling through thesecond substrate.
 6. The method of claim 1, wherein forming the trenchincludes milling through the first and second substrates.
 7. The methodof claim 6, wherein milling through the first and second substratesincludes milling to a ground plane substantially without piercing theground plane.
 8. The method of claim 1, wherein the conductive ink isplaced in contact with the ground plane such that the continuousconductor is electrically connected to the ground plane.